Important People

The Civil Rights Movement was a success because of many different people, and many of which get very little recognition in history. However some of the most important and famous are as follows: Martin Luther King Jr., W.E.B Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and The Little Rock Nine. Each of these people are considered to have made huge influences on the Civil Rights  Movement.


Martin Luther King Jr., a name we all recognize, was one of the major civil rights leaders. He first came to the nation's attention after speaking out against the arrest of Rosa Parks. He became on of the most influential public speakers of all time. He was famous for his peaceful protests and played a major role in creating the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Martin Luther King Jr. recieved the Nobel Prize in 1967 for his civil rights work. He was assasinated in 1968.
W.E.B Du Bois was a black historian and sociologist who pushed for both economical and social equal rights. He promoted black history, religious heritage, art, music and culture. Du Bois was also a founder of the NAACP in 1909.
Booker T. Washington was the president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama who pushed blacks to achieve economical equality with the whites. Unlike other movement leaders, he believe that by economical equality would bring social equality.
Lyndon B. Johnson was the thirty-sixth U.S president. He became president in 1963 and one of the movement's greatest supporters. It was thanks to his pressure on Congress to stem the racial violence in the south that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed.
John F. Kennedy was the thirty-fifth president and a strong supporter of civil rights. Before too much could be done during his third and fourth year as president, he was assassinated.
Thurgood Marshall made his impact politically, more than almost leader. He was the cheif counselor on the NAACP and was most famous for overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. He also won key victories in the Morgan v. Virgian case, and Sweatt v. Painter. Marshall went on to become the first African-American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rosa Parks was a symbol for black equality. She is famous for her scene on the segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama in which she was asked to give up her seat for a white person and refused. She was arrested for her actions, but what she had done set the scene for more powerful people to act, and gave courage and hope to the black community. This moment alone led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott act later that year, an important peaceful protest.
Malcolm X was a prominant civil rights leader who expoused self-reliance, militancy, and independance for blacks. He was a leader in the group SNCC and led many protests. His career was cut short when he to was assassinated in 1965.
The Little Rock Nine were the first black teenagers to be attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. These admirable young adults were forced to challenge the segragation in the deep south, and they won. Although the Brown v. Board of Education techniqually outlawed segragation, it still caused a fight. The governor sent armed troops to block the entrance the nine African-American students, and President Eisenhower was forced to send federal troops to protect the new students. Seven of the nine went on to graduate.